Sultry and talented, the effervescent Lilly Melgar made a name for herself cast in the award winning daytime soap General Hospital. Lilly takes a turn behind the camera this year, producing and co-directing her first feature film entitled Black Cobra. The 2012 year of action continues, as Lilly takes time out of her busy schedule to chat about Black Cobra on Dan's Movie Report. Hard to believe this is already post number 300!

Describe
a bit how you got into film and TV acting. How were you
cast on General Hospital, if you can remember the audition process..
Is auditioning for daytime soap operas different from movies?

I
remember being maybe 6 years old and telling people that when I grew
up I wanted to be a Charlie's Angel (lol). I didn't realize that
meant being an actress at the time :). I realized I wanted to act
when I would watch GH and I felt this immense desire to be on that
show. So much so that I went on to tell all my friends "when I
grow up, I'm going to be on General Hospital!" they'd say, "how
are you going to do that?" I'd answer "I don't know ... I
just know I'm going to". I officially got into acting at the age
of 16. I had won a beauty pageant and an aspiring director graduating
from UCLA film school saw me and cast me as the lead in his short
film. His film went on to win the the best short film at UCLA that
year. After that experience, winning the award and seeing myself on
the big screen, I 'knew' it was what I was meant to do. I not only
tapped in to my passion for the craft but this experience gave me the
confidence to pursue my dream. I went on to do a couple dozen
commercials, booked a spanish pilot, a lead in an independent film
and screen tested for a couple of soaps. I was seen on one of my
commercials and called in to screen test as a host for the very
successful Univision music video show "Tu Musica". I was
cast and we took the show to number one. I consider this to be the
true beginning of my career. A few years later, My
friend Ricky Martin who I had met during my time as a vj on Tu
Musica, had just been cast to be on General Hospital. I went to see
his concert and went backstage to say hello. The producers saw us
together and loved our look and chemistry so much that they decided
to make us the first latin leading daytime couple in the history of
soap operas. My dream had come true :)

Big
changes to go from acting on day time soap like General hospital to
wear a producers hat on Black Cobra. How did you decide to begin
producing films? Did the demise of many of the daytime soaps lead to
your decision.

I
got into producing because I had done a few independent films as an
actress and was feeling compelled to create my own. Shortly
thereafter, my very good friend Stephanie Cheeva shared a script with
me and asked me to produce it with her. That became "Black
Cobra" :) ... At the time, we had no way of knowing soaps would
be going off air so the demise of soaps had nothing to do with my
decision.

Chat
about some of the early obstacles you had to deal with prior to the
principal photography on Black Cobra. Any unusual Pre-production
stories?

A
few days before we started shooting we lost one of our leads!
Everything was set to start shooting and we were freaking out!
Thankfully I work best under pressure and personally called Cary
Tagawa in Hawaii and convinced him to do our film. It only took two
hours! lol

How
about the casting process, I asked the question of Steph, was it
easier to work with friends, or more pressure? How about auditioning
additional cast members and unusual auditions or stories from that
process?

I
can only speak for myself of course but I feel it is absolutely
easier to work with friends. Good friends that is :). There's
established trust, chemistry and respect. It was such a blessing for
me to work with Stephanie in particular since we've always had
similar taste, a deep bond, incredible trust in each other and a huge
passion for the art of acting. It's a beautiful thing to work with
people with such integrity. As far as the auditioning process, that
went smoothly :)

What
about difficulties of finding the proper locations and settings, did
the budget constraints alter any of the locations used on Black
Cobra?

We
were so blessed to get the locations we got. It was truly a team
effort and everyone came together and used all our connections to
make it happen.

Maybe
share a funny or unusual story from the filming process of Black
Cobra.

There
are sooo many! It's funny because we were sooo exhausted by the end
of filming that when I read Steph's interview, I didn't even remember
that story! lol ... I remember we filmed a few days at my house, and I
was going INSANE! EVERYONE came to me for EVERYTHING. I did my best
to keep it together but, I finally snapped at a PA when she
came and asked me where an extension cord was at for crafts services.
I went into a low voice and very slowly stated "I am a
'producer' NOT crafts services. If something is needed for 'crafts
services' then go to 'crafts services' and figure it out" ....
I'm not quite sure why I'm sharing 'this' story of ALL stories but if
you could of felt my frustration and heard my tone .. you may be
laughing as well ;)

Did
you ever have the desire to be in front of the camera or was Black
Cobra strictly a producer role in your thoughts from the start?

It
was my first time producing, executive producing and co-directing a
film. I felt I had enough on my plate :).

How
about additional producing projects in mind, any ideas?

Absolutely.
Working on one with my fiance' about the El Salvadoran war. I
noticed you are starring in an independent film called Untold.Untold
is based on a true story. It's about a successful entrepreneur waking
up to the reality of being a victim of a hate crime, she then begins
to have a startling recollection of her childhood stranger abduction,
which her family denies. I play her older sister. I am also currently
on the Emmy nominated web series "The Bay" which you can
view on www.thebaytheseries.com

Thanks Lilly for the insight. Watch for more from Lilly, exclusively on Dan's Movie Report! Now wipe that smile off your face, and keep reading the #1 independent movie site on the web!

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